The One With the Bet
by archergwen
Summary: "Pics or it didn't happen." Or, the one where Jet's an ass, Zuko is kind of an idiot, and Katara was just thinking she'd get an afternoon to enjoy the museum exhibits. (All three parts here; rating for language)
1. Chapter 1

"Define 'dorky.'"

"You know. _Dorky_."

"If I knew I wouldn't ask, dumbass."

"Okay, fine. Go to the library then-"

"Where the fuck is that?"

"Hell if I know. Just - go to the library, find the girl with the biggest glasses, and ask her out."

"Fine-"

"And actually follow through. This ain't no prank asking. You lost the bet, you gotta pay up. Take that girl to a movie or something."

"I'll probs take her to a museum."

"That's the spirit, Zuko. Now go. Also pics or it didn't happen."

"Fuck you, Jet."

"Love ya, too, buddy."

* * *

 _Class starts at 8 tomorrow, better shower tonight since I'll want to review O-chem before that. APUSH might give me trouble, but honestly the format of AP French will be the worst. So. Tomorrow, shower, O-Chem, school, then wait for Sokka by studying APUSH and AP French. I got this._

Katara was quietly organizing her tomorrow as she waited for her brother's football practice to end.

More like organizing her life.

Each day she actually succeeded in her self-created tasks, she got closer to her life out of high school.

If she played her cards right, and got good enough grades, she could graduate in May with her older brother. Schools would be crazy not to take her then, and she'd probably get great scholarships so Dad wouldn't complain so much about both of this kids going to college at the same time.

She knew Sokka didn't think those complaints were jokes, as evidenced by the dramatic improvement in his grades.

(Katara saw his shift from a B- to a B+ average as dramatic, the little nerd.)

(Sokka would probably manage an A- average in this last semester that would show up on his transcripts. Not that he would brag about that to anyone but Suki, who was doing better than him in classes simply because a small hip injury was keeping her from off-season soccer.)

Katara expected nothing from her afternoon but quiet studying before her loudmouth and lovable brother gave her a ride home.

Instead, she heard a soft and unsure cough.

She looked up and there was Zuko Lee standing on the other side of her table, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

"What do you want?"

He stammered for a moment, then fell silent as he drew himself up. "Go to the museum with me? Please, and only if you want to? Not today, obviously, but Friday after school. Or next Friday if that's better."

"I- what?"

"I'm asking you on a date, genius."

"I gathered!" Katara snapped back, drawing her books closer to her. "And I don't know if I want to go with you."

He seemed to deflate a little. "I thought you might like a free afternoon that's still intelligent, I guess."

Katara bit back a retort that she'd love to go to the museum, without him, and instead settled into her chair. "Fine. Right after school?"

"Yeah."

Her phone buzzed, signalling her brother's impatient call. She stood, sweeping all of her things into her backpack to sort later. "See you Friday, then." And she hurried out the door.

* * *

On Friday, Zuko Lee met Katara in the library, again, and the two walked out to his car.

It was stilted and awkward, to say the least.

The car ride wasn't much better. Zuko left the radio off, but didn't bother to facilitate conversation, leaving the car in total silence.

They were stiff and awkward in buying their tickets - "It's a date, woman. I pay, and you're going to see all the exhibits." - and they kept a steady distance between them as they wandered through the first exhibit, one on Ancient Greece art and history.

Of course, then they got through to the Renaissance art.


	2. Chapter 2

Katara isn't sure why Zuko, of all people asked her on a date. On a date _to a museum_ , even. She's not going to question too deeply though. She has had a crush on him since she was a freshman.

Katara is sure Zuko doesn't have a lot of experience with art, that he's so blown away by Renaissance art. He's been staring at a still-life - the one with the extinct watermelon the internet went nuts over a bit back - for twenty minutes.

She's not quite sure how to identify what she's feeling as she watches feelings flutter over his face. He much prefers the Italian Renaissance to the Northern; that much is clear. She can watch his eyes trace the light, the curve of the shapes and color.

He's entranced, and she's entranced by him.

It's hard not to be, she realizes. Looking at him from the right, she can trace his youth, the fresh face and curve of a young man full of promise. His eye is bright. Watching from the left, looking over a wrinkled bend singing of fire, she sees a painting of pain that refuses to easily yield up its story.

 _It looks like some bastard put a fist of fire in his face._

But through it, she can trace determination, and a strength to hold onto every shred of hope that he could with the luck required to keep both eyes even with that wound.

He finally shakes himself, torn free from whatever deep truths he was finding in fruit.

Katara reaches out and touches his arm, half a breath from taking his hand but she stops herself. "Come with me. I need to show you what came next."

* * *

He can't stop staring at the light.

He wants to stare at her, this girl who can figure out what art will touch him after a single afternoon together.

 _She's light_ , he thinks of screaming when it hits him like a thunderbolt. He glances at her, and is grateful to see her distracted by the perfect representation of light on water.

She's entranced and entrancing.

This is the best bet he's ever lost.

He watches her eyes trace the movement suggested by the color and the composition, the order he can trace himself, but not when he's captured by her curves and twists, how her hair catches the light. Her skin glows, a myriad of different colors as if she herself is a painting by Monet.

Zuko almost lets anger creep in - anger at his father for never letting him out to museums, anger at tutors for never covering art, only war - but instead, he slips his hand in hers as she stands before a garden recreated in splashes of paint.

She squeezes his hand, and lights his heart on fire.

* * *

He buys her a sandwich in the museum cafe, and she trails behind him to a table. Without the art, they are awkward and shy, two kids remembering they hardly know each other.

Suddenly he makes a face while looking over her shoulder.

Katara twists around to see a table full of high school boys who are staring back, whispering and poking.

"Ignore them," Zuko starts, voice low with annoyance. "They don't believe I actually had a date with a pretty girl."

"Haven't they ever heard of 'pics or it didn't happen'?"

Zuko snorts, amused. "We haven't taken any pictures together, now have we?"

It only takes a second of processing her idea before Katara fishes her phone out of her bag, takes a drink of water, and pulls her chair around to sit next to Zuko. "Well then let's fix that."

She can feel the eyes of his friends on them as the two lean in to the frame. The camera focuses, and just at the last second she leans in and kisses his cheek. Her calm confidence and his utter surprise are saved forever, and she smiles to herself as she offers her phone to him, it ready to send the picture just as soon as he puts a phone number in.

* * *

"Can I see you again?" he blurts out. Her phone is offered like a lifeline he's going to tug on until he stops drowning in her but first he needs-

She smiles. "Of course. But I'd love your number first, so we can coordinate."

He messes up his own number twice, but when his phone dings with the picture, it sounds like a promise.

Katara stands and puts her chair back. "Give me just a sec, and I'll be ready when you are to head back." She vanishes towards the restrooms, and her chair is immediately filled with Jet.

"Dude, it's rude to crash a brother's date. Piss off."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Come on. You've paid up enough. Ditch the girl and come game with us. With you we'll have a 5-stack."

"Date's not done. Maybe I'll catch up later."

Jet rolls his eyes dramatically as he settles into the chair. The other guys are making big motions at their table, which both Zuko and Jet ignore. "Zuko. Come on. This is enough time and money spent on a bet-"

"I'll have you know I actually like this-"

"A bet?"

 _Fuck_. Zuko turns ninety degrees to see Katara, standing baffled and hurt off to his side.

Jet, the insufferable bastard, doesn't look sorry at all.


	3. Chapter 3

"Katara!"

Zuko is half out of his seat and chasing her before she can clear the museum cafe.

"Just leave me alone, you-" She cuts herself off as she darts her way through the crowds, and out the museum.

"Slow down! Please listen to me!"

"I don't listen to liars," she throws back, running away from the parking lot and his car and towards the street, and _shit_ she's about to _cry._

"I never lied!"

Her cold laughter cuts across the sound of traffic as she marches into the sidewalk, deliberately not looking back. "No, you just took a girl out on a date just to satisfy a bet."

"Hey, the second date would have been all my idea."

She laughs again, pained, and now Zuko can see she's making a beeline for the metro station.

"Will you please listen? I actually liked spending time with you. I actually do like you. So what if this all started becau-"

"The ends justify the means after all."

"Yes!" He's chasing her down flights of stairs, dodging other pedestrians who give him questioning looks. "That's it. This is just a silly first date story-"

"That what, we'll be telling our friends years from now around some fire? Get a grip. Just who do you think you are? This is real life, and it is not pretty." She murmurs something about 'and it's my fault for thinking for a half a second that it could be' as she practically leaps off the last stair and rounds the corner towards the ticketing booth and weird metal poles you spin as you walk through an admittance point. Kinda like spindly but not really like that at all.

Zuko had counted on her buying a ticket to give him enough time to explain things, but Katara fishes a small card from her pocket and swipes it across the divider between people-spindles.

Zuko makes to follow her, but the spindle won't budge, and now people are yelling at him, and there's a security guard narrowing her eyes, so he steps back.

To his momentary relief, Katara finally pauses and looks back at him.

"By the way, Zuko, 'the ends justify the means' is largely attributed to Machiavelli's _The Prince_ , potentially the greatest political _satire_ yet known to man. Stop sleeping through history class."

As she turns away and runs down the steps to meet her train, Zuko briefly considers quickly buying a ticket and running after her. However, he knows absolutely nothing about the subway system so as to get back home, and is already pushing the creep envelope, so he turns around and goes home via his car instead.

When he slips inside his house, his sister is already home.

Azula glances at him, taking note of his presence, and the returns to watching the television. Ty Lee is sprawled across their floor, entirely enraptured by the eighties movie.

Dad must not be home then. And judging by the duffle bag of Ty Lee's, he's not coming home for at least a couple days.

Cool.

He's about to run upstairs when Peter Gabriel overwhelms the sound system. Zuko notes the idiot holding heavy electronics over his head, and has an idea.

* * *

Sokka is not having a good Monday.

His sister has been mysteriously mopey all weekend and won't talk about it. Which is weird. Their family usually solves their issues with yelling. So Katara's creating an emotional time bomb, which is great.

It's Monday, which is means he's gotta cram for all his homework in his free first hour; he hadn't been able to do homework on the job over the weekend.

Also, apparently someone didn't clean up after themselves in the locker room, so practice is gonna go longer tonight so the whole team can scrub down the lockers-

A hand reaches out and grabs Sokka, pulling him into a side hallway.

"What the-"

"Sokka." Zuko Lee's eyes practically glint. "I need your help."

 _Well. There goes first period._

* * *

It's Thursday, and Katara is Not Okay.

She can't really shake the sense of betrayal hanging over her. Yelling won't help this time, as the Lee's seem to solve problems with over-dramatic apologies and stuffing things under rugs, not airing out grievances until they're corpses you can bury, and yelling at her family would be unjust.

So Katara wallows.

It's not very dignified, but she does it all the same. It does get the homework done.

Her brother and dad are out on their traditional "we did housework now we get to feast" Thursday dinner. They're repairing the fence and rearranging somethings. Sokka did leave the ladder under Katara's window, but only because he took her screen off. "That way you can lean out of you window and actually see something for once."

It's a nice gesture, and does mean something to her as her view is mostly of the neighbor's house. She can lean out and stare at the sunset when it happens.

For the moment though, she's sprawled on her bed working on homework.

After roughly thirty minutes, music comes from outside.

Curious, Katara stands and crosses to her window, where Zuko Lee is standing below with a speaker in hand playing a melodramatic french song.

"C'est ma faute" wafts up to her, and she gives Zuko a look.

He suddenly looks sheepish, but lets the song play while he talks. "I saw this in a movie. Is it working?"

"No," she replies, a little more gently than she might have wanted.

"Look, I messed up, and I know it. It's just, we weren't really friends before all this, so I couldn't very well say, 'look my friend is an ass and I need a fake date to satisfy a bet.' And when would have been a good time for me to tell you? And it's not like I didn't kinda want to take you out anyway, this all just gave me an opening-"

"My first date was still a lie. Nothing you say can change that."

Zuko takes a step back from her venom, and then quietly turns off the music. He looks up at her, shy fear hardening into resolve.

Before Katara can protest he's climbing the ladder Sokka left behind.

When he's close enough for her to punch him, he stares straight into her eyes and intones, "go on a date with me."

"No."

"Let me take you to a movie you've wanted to see, or a picnic. Let me fix this."

"No."

Katara starts to retreat and close her window, when she pauses. "Why do you think you could fix it with another date?"

"Well, I figure we'll talk and chat, get to know each other. Maybe we'll at least salvage a friendship out of this. You'll need a partner to study with if you're planning on graduating early, anyway, and I can help you there. But more importantly, I owe you another pleasant afternoon without a sad ending this time."

She's going to say no again, but his relentless honesty is nice, even if he's pushing the boundaries of creepdom. "Alright, but from now on, you gotta dial down the stalker and drama queen levels. They are way too high for polite society."

"I am not a drama queen!" he instinctively reacts, hackles practically raising before he sheepishly catches himself and blushes. "Looks like I've got a lot to work on."

"Hey. We're only in high school. After all, I'm a blossoming control freak."

"We'd make the weirdest romantic comedy."

"Shut up and take me to a movie."

"As the lady commands," he replies and hurries back down the ladder. Shaking her head, Katara follows him down the ladder, closing her window behind her. She texts her brother, saying she'll be out when he gets home, and accepts Zuko opening the door of his car for her. "Where do you want to go?"

"Oh, anywhere."

"Anywhere and everywhere it is, then."


End file.
